A Symphony in Blood and Silence

Written by: Parinaaz Bains

GD by: Japleen

“I love my dreams and miss them dearly.”

This was said by Benazir Habibzadeh, a woman in present day Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 4.01 crores, under the Taliban rule. She is voicing her sentiments and those of so many women like her who are being denied their rights and education. The United States of America in 2001 following the terrorist attacks on 9/11 which had 2977 recorded casualties, invaded Afghanistan to flush out al-Qaeda. US military planes left Kabul airport at 11:59 p.m. on 30 August 2021 allowing the Taliban to take over. This poem is from the perspective of a woman in Afghanistan.  

I love my dreams,

I miss them dearly

Paying the price of

2977 bodies

With the cost

4.01 crore souls

Armed with my convictions,

I litter the world with scorned attempts.

I flounder as I hope

Whilst experience offers only contempt.

The blind might live in the darkness

That is their forever home,

The symphony of vibrance that streaks life

Is not as easily suffered through alone.

High ambitions and insurgent spirits

Condemn a couple of generations.

Why is meek humanity always subject to,

Wars between mighty nations?

Now the oppressed seek redemption,

For the sins of the oppressor.

Power punishes the innocents - when its authority is challenged

By the supposedly lesser.

Once upon a time

About a decade or two afore,

A mistake was made - to be paid off

By drops of blood for evermore.

Someone should have said so…

Someone should have warned a long time ago…

I loved my dreams,

Oh, how I wish to miss them dearly.

Alas! Their memory eludes me.